The Toronto District School Board’s former director of education is addressing allegations he plagiarized several of his published works.
The latest allegations accuse Chris Spence of stealing copy used in his PhD dissertation. The University of Toronto is said to be investigating the matter.
This past week, the Toronto Star and the National Post uncovered several instances where Spence’s writing mirrored previously published work from other authors.
Spence immediately apologized the first time he was accused last week of plagiarizing parts of an op-ed piece he wrote for the Star. The newspaper was alerted by a reader who recognized a passage from an article in the New York Times.
As more allegations surfaced, he deactivated his Twitter account and stepped down from his position with the TDSB but didn’t address the issue again until Friday afternoon when he released a statement assuring the public that he would cooperate with investigators.
“I wish to thank members of the media for respecting my family's need for privacy during this very difficult time,” the statement said. “I am, however, aware of allegations with respect to other writings, including my 1996 PhD dissertation. I want to assure the relevant parties that I intend to fully cooperate with any possible inquiry. I look forward to hearing from them at the appropriate time.”
The statement was released through the Daisy Consulting Group – a company that specializes in crisis management and rehabilitating reputations.
In the meantime, trustees with the TDSB were expected to vote Friday on who would replace Spence in the interim but that vote has now been pushed to Monday night.
Deputy director Donna Quan was appointed immediately after Spence resigned but trustees have to vote on whether she is the best person to serve the board until a replacement is found.
Trustees did however vote to accept Spence’s resignation at Friday’s meeting.
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